


A Breath Away

by LittleAprilFlowers



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: First Kiss, I just love these kids so much, I'm new to writing for this fandom so please be patient with me, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Revelations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22558633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleAprilFlowers/pseuds/LittleAprilFlowers
Summary: Finn has been training with the Force, and Poe has been playing hero as usual. A brief moment of respite stolen in the shadow of the Great Tree sapling on a moon of Yavin.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 8
Kudos: 119





	A Breath Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dearcaspian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearcaspian/gifts).



For the first time in what might as well have been forever, Finn felt at peace, basking in the faint glow of three moons. His practised connection with the Force allowed him to stretch his mind out along the earth around him as the heavy rains fell on the fourth satellite of Yavin. The connection with it was stronger than ever thanks to the sapling of the Great Tree that Poe’s own parents had planted here, which he now sat at the foot of. To think it was a part of the Jedi legacy, and a certain pilot spent much of his childhood swinging from its branches without a care.

“Something funny?” the man in question asked, “You’re grinning like a Hutt in a-- Wait, can Hutts even do that? Grin?”

Finn opened his eyes and smiled more softly at Poe as he emerged from the growing shadows of the evening, visibly relaxing from the posture he had taken. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen one.”

“I have. They’re about as ugly as the stories say. Never saw him grin though.” Poe tutted, flopping down on the ground next to Finn. They bump shoulders, easing into each other’s company. Although it had only been a handful of years, with that they had achieved in the face of impossible odds, their friendship seemed as though it had endured a lifetime already. And because Rey and Finn had been training together for most of the time that they could spare in between rooting out pockets of First Order loyalists or Palpatine’s Sith-worshipping cult, and trying to rebuild the galaxy’s democracy from the ground up, moments like these were precious indeed.

Poe dropped his head back against the bark to scan through the cavernous branches of the tree stretched out above them. Even he could sense the life flowing in and out of it - as a boy he was ignorant of what it was, assuming in his youth it was the exuberance of his own adventurous play. But now he could recognise the sheer magnitude of the tree’s existence in the face of everything that had tried to wipe it out. It was a direct link to the Force for all those who might have access to it, and even to those like him who did not it was an amplifier to the depth of pure energy that the Force contained.

He turned then to Finn beside him, noting how the man had settled back into his meditative position in the moment of silence. He hesitated, not wanting to disturb him from his focus, and his gaze lingered on the pleasing shape of Finn’s jaw, of his chin and his nose. Finn’s lips were softened in deep concentration, but then tugged up at the corner under observation.

“I can feel you looking at me.”

“Sorry.” Poe murmured, wrenching his gaze away. He was almost embarrassed about it, this unspoken thing between them both, though perhaps embarrassment wasn’t the right word. It didn’t need words forcing a meaning; it existed in the touching of hands, the warmth of a shared jacket. Uncharacteristic as it was for Poe to keep anything to himself - as well known a gossip as he was - he struggled to speak of this bond between him and Finn. It was not shame that kept him from acknowledging it, but there was something else. Fear, perhaps, of what might happen if it evolved into something else.

“You came out here for something,” Finn continued, his eyes still closed, “other than to distract me?”

“Nope. My sole purpose was to pester you.” Poe said, unable to resist the games they played so well. It was familiar, comfortable. Safe. “And also tell you that the mess hall will be open for dinner before long. Figured you might wanna eat at some point.”

“The Force sustains me.” Finn told him, entirely straight faced.

“I may not be  _ one with the Force _ like you and Rey, but I’ve seen how much that girl eats. I know that’s a ton of wampa shit.” Poe argued.

Finn broke into laughter, falling entirely out of his focusing stance this time. The sound bubbled up out of him like the soothing water of a hot spring; it washed over Poe and pushed out the cold which had settled into his bones from the rain. He might have basked in that sound forever if time allowed such things.

Eventually the laughter died down, and Finn began to stand once he had regained his breath. “You’re right. We should head back.”

“There’s no hurry.” Poe blurted, his hand shooting forward and grabbing Finn by the sleeve to stop him from rising, “We can, uhh, stay out here a little longer. You know, only if you wanted to. It’s nice.”

Raising a questioning brow, Poe turned away in order to not have to see Finn trying to garner exactly what  _ that  _ was about. Instead they settled into silence once more, broken only by the susurration of the rainfall on the canopy of the forest around them.

Warm fingers sought out Poe’s. He did not react beyond weaving his own hand into the other, and Finn’s thumb stroked gentle circles into his calloused skin. It was not uncommon for them to reach out in this way - physical contact was not a shy subject for them, and both craved it without ever demanding it. But there was always that hesitance drawing Poe away.

“You think I haven’t noticed.” Finn murmured, his voice barely more than a breath close to Poe’s face where they sat together.

“Noticed what?” The ill-executed evasiveness in his voice was endearing as much as it was frustrating to hear.

“You. This.” Finn tried again, this time squeezing Poe’s hand in his to try and further his point. “You were the first person to make me feel welcome in the Resistance. You made me feel like I had a purpose, like I was  _ supposed _ to be here, even after everything that brought me onto this path.”

He recalled the stormtrooper training. The relentless drills and exercises from when he woke to when his head hit the pillow of his bunk in exhaustion, stopping only for necessary functions like eating and sleeping, on a constant loop. He could still remember the weight of the issued blaster in his hands. Sometimes he wondered, just for a second, where the others of his unit ended up. Jannah was proof that he was thankfully not as unique as he might have originally believed; most stormtroopers probably did have souls behind their helmets after all. 

“And you kept me on that path. You always fought my corner, and always stayed at my side, through everything.”

“Kriff _ ,  _ buddy. What do you want me to say?” Poe replied, and he gathered the courage to turn back and face Finn, his eyes searching for an answer. “Of course I did all those things.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“Why did you do it? Any of it?” Finn urged, “I was no one to you. I could’ve been a First Order spy.”

“You weren’t going to convince anyone of that.” Poe huffed, shaking his head and permitting a small teasing smile at the memory of how determined Finn had been to dedicate himself to the cause.

“Poe--”

“I  _ know _ , okay? I know.” he relented, releasing Finn’s hand - somewhat unwillingly - and rubbing at his legs instead, trying to work out the nervous energy that was simmering under his skin. “I would have done that for anyone. It doesn’t change the fact that I would do it again, a hundred times over, for you.”

Another silence stretched between them, this one bearing down on the pair like a burden of unshakable regret on their backs. Suddenly the formerly relaxing echo of the downpour around them felt oppressive, like they were trapped in the shadow of the Great Tree by the rainstorm beyond it.

And then Finn’s fingers find Poe’s jaw, turning his face back towards him, and Poe didn’t fight it when Finn’s lips found his. It was a soft kiss, restrained by the uncertainty of what might come after. The aching in Poe’s heart told him that this was perfect, no matter what followed, and he would never know this strange mix of elation and panic ever again.

When they part Poe’s eyelashes flutter open and Finn is staring at him, his hand still on Poe’s face. 

“Was that ...?” Poe whispered, unsure if he could bring himself to reciprocate, but knowing he would not be able to leave this place without making sure.

Impossibly, as if it was the answer he had been hoping for, Finn was grinning brightly, his face illuminated in relief. “It was. Can I do it again?”

“Don’t ever stop.” Poe growled, throwing himself forward and pushing an unguarded Finn to the dirt with all his weight. The rain drowned out the rest of the world, the rest of the galaxy even, until all that held meaning under the leaves of the Great Tree were two thundering heartbeats and the searing caress of kisses on rain-cooled skin.


End file.
